Doc Rivers: 'There’s Going to be Pressure' on 76ers After James Harden Trade

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers said Friday there will be increased urgency and expectations to win after acquiring All-Star guard James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets.

According to John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Rivers said, "No one else can put more pressure on myself than myself. I am in this to win. There's going to be pressure. There should be. If there wasn't, everybody would be champions. We did this deal so we could jump into the fray."

The Sixers and Nets completed a blockbuster Thursday prior to the trade deadline with Philly acquiring Harden and Paul Millsap in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round draft picks.

Philadelphia entered play Friday with a 32-22 record, placing it fifth in the Eastern Conference, just three games behind the first-place Miami Heat.

The 76ers got themselves to that point with only one true superstar in center Joel Embiid, as the disgruntled Simmons did not appear in a single game for them this season.

Now that they have shipped out Simmons and more in exchange for Harden, the Sixers have the second superstar they needed to be considered a true championship threat.

Harden's resume speaks for itself, as he has been named an All-Star in each of the past 10 seasons. He was also a three-time scoring champion and one-time NBA MVP during his time with the Houston Rockets.

He has averaged at least 29.0 points per game in a season five times in his career and has a career scoring average of 25.0 points per game. His scoring average is down to 22.5 this season, as he struggled with his shot in Brooklyn, making just 41.4 percent of his attempts from the field and 33.2 percent of his shots from three-point range.

Harden has proved over the years that he can be much better than that, however, and it shouldn't be overlooked that he is averaging 10.2 assists per game.

Given his scoring ability and willingness to distribute, Rivers finally has a guard who he can run the offense through in Harden.

Perhaps the one major area of concern as it relates to Harden is a lack of playoff success throughout his career.

Harden has never won a championship and never reached the NBA Finals during his time with the Rockets and Nets. He did reach the NBA Finals once while he was a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that was early in his career as a complementary piece to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Now, Harden will be tasked with getting over that hump as the co-star to Embiid on a Sixers team that has had its own playoff pitfalls.

The 76ers have reached the playoffs in four straight seasons and were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season, but they haven't gotten beyond the second round during that stretch.

Acquiring Harden was clearly a move meant to take the Sixers to the next level, but if they aren't able to at least reach the Eastern Conference Finals this season, there will be even more pressure on Harden, Embiid and Rivers moving forward.